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Comparing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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The book Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is based around the American dream. In this novel, Lennie and George work on a farm. George takes care of Lennie because he has some sort of mental disability. The two men dream of having a farm of their own. Throughout the book, Lennie and George work towards buying their own farm while getting through obstacles along the way. The novel portrays the American dream as unachievable which makes me believe John Steinbeck views the American dream in the same way. George never brings up the farm he and Lennie plan on owning, unless it’s for Lennie’s sake. This leads me to believe George thinks their American dream is unachievable. From this information, I presume George thought owning a farm would be nearly impossible while he was still caring for Lennie. Steinbeck indirectly shared his thoughts on the American dream through this novel and the characters in it. He believed one had to work hard for what they owned and what they wanted. The book included great examples of hard work, but the American dream was never accomplished. John Steinbeck himself worked as a manual laborer before becoming an author. That requires a great deal of effort, yet he did not gain success from that job. He …show more content…
“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to” (13). This is definitely not a picture of the typical American dream. John Steinbeck is telling us that you cannot build a nation on these men. They are lonely and without hope. The American dream cannot be achieved by men with no hope. This quote is telling us the men who worked on these farms were not equipped to fulfill the

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